The judge deemed suspension without pay to be “a more appropriate penalty.”

A charge of misdemeanor drug possession against Mr. Esteban was dropped six months ago on the condition he attend a substance abuse program. Seriously, this guy should have bought a Powerball ticket.

The Global Studies teacher, apparently unable to access Advil, claimed he used heroin to help deal with a sore ankle. He said he is now clean.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he “could not disagree more strongly with the judge’s decision.”

City Law Department head Michael Cardoza also condemned the controversial verdict. “We strongly disagree with the court and believe that it misapplied the law … We cannot fathom how a teacher who took 20 bags of heroin into a courthouse is fit to stand in front of a classroom and teach the City’s schoolchildren,” he said.